This Valentine’s Day, grab a bucket of popcorn and a box of conversation hearts and treat the kids in your life to a movie that is sure to make them fall in love.
Most rom-coms are a little too advanced in the love department for children and tweens, but this list includes romantic films appropriate for even the youngest members of the family. There are adaptations of swoonworthy YA classics like Little Women and awe-inspiring animated films that pull at the heartstrings like Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse. Little Manhattan is a story of tweenage first love that will leave you wrecked (in a good way), while Disney’s The Princess and the Frog flips the script on the classic fairytale without completely ditching the happy ending. The best part is, every movie suggested here is G or PG-rated, so parents can rest assured that these L-O-V-E stories are family-friendly.
Below, 14 of the best Valentine’s Day movies for kids of all ages.
For Very Young Kids
Luca (2021)
Set on the gorgeous Italian Riviera, the coming-of-age Pixar film tells a fish out of water story, quite literally. When two young sea monsters, the incredibly nervous Alberto (Jack Dylan Grazer) and his intrepid friend Luca (Jacob Tremblay), go looking for adventure in the human world they find that it’s not the dangerous cesspool Alberto’s parents (Maya Rudolph and Jim Gaffigan) claimed it would be. Instead, they discover the joys of Vespa riding, gelato, and self-acceptance in some of the most beautiful sights you’ll ever see. While the romance in Luca may not be overt, some consider it to be “Pixar’s first gay movie.” Director Enrico Casarosa told The Wrap in 2022that the film is really focused on “pre-puberty” so “there’s no crush yet.” (Though he’s said he is proud that the LGBTQ+ community has embraced the film.) No matter how you choose to interpret the film, it’s hard to deny the charming way in which it celebrates those friendships that help us become who we are.
Watch on Disney+
The Princess and the Frog (2009)
In 1920s New Orleans, Tiana (voiced by Dreamgirls’ Anika Noni Rose) dreams of owning her own restaurant. But when she’s turned into a frog after kissing an arrogant amphibian, who claims to be a prince, she finds herself on a magical, mystical adventure through the bayous of Louisiana to find someone who can break the spell. The villain of Disney’s last hand-drawn feature, Dr. Facilier, a frighteningly charismatic voodoo witch doctor, may be too scary for some kids, but the love story at the core of the film should make even the littlest hearts go pitter-patter.
Watch on Disney+
The Parent Trap (1998)
Lindsay Lohan and, well, Lindsay Lohan star in the remake of the 1961 Disney classic of the same name in which twins who were intentionally separated at birth by their divorced parents go from mortal enemies who meet by chance at summer camp to trusted allies in their pursuit to get their parents (played by Dennis Quaid and Natasha Richardson) back together by any means necessary. (Sorry, not sorry to dad’s camping-averse girlfriend Meredith Blake.) Hilarity definitely ensues (not to mention more than one romance) in Nancy Meyers’ heartwarming feature directorial debut about forgiveness.
Watch on Disney+ or rent it on Prime Video
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
It’s a tale as old as time, but the Disney classic offers a new take on the fairytale princess. Belle spends most of her time with her head in a book and is revered for her kindness, not her looks. She pushes the Beast, a prince who has been cursed for his selfishness, to be a more thoughtful being. In return, she learns not to judge a book, even the most beastly of them, by its cover.
Watch on Disney+
Wall-E (2008)
The brainy animated Pixar feature, set 700 years after Earth was abandoned by all human life, follows a lonely garbage-collecting robot, who is more Charlie Chaplin than HAL 9000. He exists to clean up the mess they left behind, but when a far more advanced and cynical droid named EVA, short for Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator, shows up on his planet, he becomes more interested in wooing her than doing his job. Quiet and deliberate, this gentle film manages to make heady themes like conservation, consumerism, and over-reliance on technology accessible for still developing brains. (Its views on obesity, however, did not age as well.)Wall-E will leave even the tiniest of humans awestruck.
Watch on Disney+
Elemental (2023)
Elemental City is a sprawling metropolis where earth, wind, fire, and water all live, but not necessarily together. For most of her life, Ember, a fiery young woman, has been told that the elements just shouldn’t mix. When she meets Wade, a water guy, she begins to wonder if everything she thought she knew was wrong in this technicolor Pixar kiddie rom-com about finding common ground.
Watch on Disney+
For Older Kids
The Princess Diaries (2001)
In Garry Marshall’s sweet adaptation of Meg Cabot’s best-selling YA novel of the same name, Anne Hathaway plays Mia Thermopolis, a high school outcast who suddenly discovers her late father was the King of a small European country called Genovia. With help from her royal grandmother (played by Julie Andrews), Mia learns the tricks of the family trade and discovers that she ruled long before she donned a tiara. Sure, she gets the guy in the end (played by Robert Schwartzman), but finding self-love is what makes this ending truly happy.
Watch on Disney+
High School Musical (2006)
Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens play star-crossed co-stars of their school musical in this Disney Channel Original that feels like Grease for kids. The seminal zillennial film is full of catchy tunes, teachable moments, and puppy love with none of the raunch. Even better, when your kids ultimately fall in love with HSM, you can show them the two sequels and the hilariously named Disney+ TV series, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, starring pop princess Olivia Rodrigo. We’re all in this together, right?
Watch on Disney+
The Princess Bride (1987)
It’s inconceivable that kids won’t get a kick out of this witty swashbuckling adventure of a farmhand-turned-pirate (Cary Elwes) on a quest to save the woman he loves (Robin Wright). Despite being nearly 40 years old, The Princess Bride still feels as fresh as ever.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
The breathtaking sequel to 2018’s Into the Spider-Verse is a superhero movie that finally gives kids a couple to root for. Miles Morales, a.k.a. Earth-1610’s Spider-Man (voiced by Shameik Moore), is tasked with saving the world, but the Brooklyn teen just can’t fight his feelings for Gwen Stacey (Hailee Steinfeld). Across the Spider-Verseoffers a big-hearted look at a crush that defies space, time, and the laws of attraction.
Watch on Netflix
Aquamarine (2006)
When a mermaid (played by Sara Paxton) shows up in their beachside town, tweenage best friends (Emma Roberts and JoJo) agree to help her in her quest to prove that love really does exist in exchange for one wish. The catch? They only have three days to make a human man fall in love with her. Oh, and any time her feet touch the water they disappear. (No, you’re not mistaken, this is basically the plot of the 1983 Tom Hanks/Daryl Hannah comedy Splash—but for kids!) Yet through their cross-species matchmaking, the girls begin to realize that love is all around them, but only if they choose to really see it.
Watch on Disney+ or rent it on Prime Video
Little Manhattan (2005)
When 10-year-old Gabe (a pre-Hunger Games Josh Hutcherson) realizes girls don’t have cooties, his life is turned completely upside down. He experiences all the hallmarks of a rom-com lead double his age: he struggles to look cool in front of his crush, attempts a makeover to impress her, and worries his palms will be too sweaty to hold her hand. Like most of the romantic relationships of one’s youth, this one doesn’t last all that long. But Little Manhattan offers a thoughtful look at the big effect a first love can have on even the smallest of hearts.
Watch on Hulu or rent it on Prime Video
Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)
Introduce the young animation lover in your life to an animated cinematic masterpiece from Studio Ghibli that is as romantic as it is whimsical. After being cursed by a local witch, Sophie finds herself being swept off her feet by Howl, an enchanting wizard and resistance fighter. The film’s anti-war message—director Hayao Miyazaki was influenced by his opposition to the U.S.’s invasion of Iraq in 2003—may go over the heads of kids, but Sophie and Howl’s deep affection for one another will surely not.
Watch on Max
Little Women (2019)
Greta Gerwig’s inspired take on Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel follows the March sisters—Meg (Harry Potter’s Emma Watson), Jo (Saoirse Ronan), Beth (Eliza Scanlen), and Amy (Florence Pugh)—from girlhood to womanhood. Their hearts get broken, but they put them back together again, often with their sisters’ help, learning important lessons along the way. The most crucial among them being that a woman doesn’t have to adhere to society’s views on what they should or should not be. There is someone out there who will love them for exactly who they are. It’s a sentiment that is as true now as it was when Alcott’s book was released more than 150 years ago. (And if they really fall for it, cue up a double feature with Gillian Armstrong’s also great 1994 adaptation.)
Watch on Hulu or Prime Video with a Starz subscription
